Dear Ms Wright,

I have just read the article in the Toronto Star from Monday, March 26, 2007 in which you were quoted and I wanted to add our experience. 

We are Canadians.  My husband is a 11th generation French Canadian, I am a 3rd generation Canadian.  Our Children are not only 12th generation Canadians but they are also 4th generation Albertans from both sides of their family. 

My husband got his PhD in 1997  and in 1998, we left Canada for him to do his post-doc in the US. He was told at that time, that he would never get a job in Canada unless he had his "BTA" (Been to America).  In other words, he would never get a job in Canada unless he had experience in the US.  So off we went with the blessing of the Canadian Government who gave my husband a generous grant to complete his BTA.  It was always our intention to come back. 

We spent our time in the US hoping that we would be able to bring his American experience back to Canada but it just wasn't happening.  Things were changing and by 6 years later, the tide had changed and "Canadian Experience" was more important than the first class experience that my husband had gained in the US and was hoping beyond hope to bring back to Canada.

He did secure a position in Canada with the contractual promise of a Canada Research Chair.  Within a month of us arriving and giving up our life in the US, the University  pulled their support for the Chair, leaving my husband with no funding and no promise of a future.  They disregarded recommendations of their own Department, references from five of the most revered scientists in the world and my husband's very strong track record. As the year went along, it became more and more evident that his career would hit a standstill if we stayed.  The University would not budge, there was little or no political maneuverability and without the Chair, there was a less than 20% chance of funding through conventional grants.  After spending almost all of his time not doing research but applying for grants and trying to secure funding instead, my husband quietly put himself back on the job market to try to salvage his burgeoning career.

Our experience of re-integration was very similar to the immigrants stories of integration that is described in the article. We were welcomed in principle with a big gesture and grand claims of being welcome, but were  left to our own devices immediately upon hitting the border. Our triumphant return was more like burning up on re-entry.

The border guards treated us with suspicion and the Customs agents rifled our moving container, tearing apart and x-raying our personal effects. We were given no assistance to obtain family doctors. Only by a professional favour were we able to get a pediatrician for our children and when asked how to get a doctor for ourselves, we were told the best way to get healthcare was, "don't get sick." This was probably the most honest advice we received. Negotiating other aspects of life in Canada was also surprisingly difficult, probably because we assumed that we would re-integrate more seamlessly.

Even in volunteer organisations, and in spite of the fact that we had national and international level qualifications and supposedly there were desperate calls for volunteers, attempts at communication with  the national organising bodies was futile at best.  Even to volunteer, Canadian Experience was obviously more important than what we had to offer. 

We left Canada for the United Kingdom a year after we returned.  We are the brain drain.  Would we live and work in Canada if we could?  In a millisecond.  It seems criminal that the Canadian Government can't seem to recognise that they are losing over 60 000 of their best and brightest every single year to the US alone.  It is criminal that the government is making appeals to immigrants to replace that drain, making promises that the employers and establishment have no intention or desire of seeing through.

I don't see a way out and I certainly don't see a way that we will ever go back to Canada.  No one in Canada will hire my husband now because he's been away too long.  Nationality and citizenship seem to mean nothing. 

This is something I don't understand and am deeply ashamed of my own country.  I wish it were different but it's not.  Until it changes sufficiently for us to go back, we will make our life elsewhere. 

Kind Regards,